Recycle container for curbside refuse pickup

ABSTRACT

A recycle container is adapted for use with a refuse container that has wheels and a lift bar to be engaged by a hydraulic lift unit of a refuse collection vehicle. An engagement flange extends outwardly from a rear wall of the recycle container at a height that enables a hook portion of the flange to engage the lift bar of the refuse container when the containers are supported on level ground. Engagement of the hook portion of the flange on the lift bar enables the recycle container to be joined to the refuse container to facilitate movement of the recycle container and refuse container together. Once the flange is engaged on the lift bar, the refuse container is tilted backward about its wheels and the two containers can be transported together to a curbside location, and detached from each other to await pick-up by collection vehicles.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/960,415, filed Sep. 28, 2007, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a recycle container in which recyclables, such as glass and metal containers; or papers, such as newspapers; and cardboard are collected for curbside pickup by a refuse collection vehicle.

2. Background of the Invention

Refuse containers are useful for containing garbage and trash; and are provided with wheels to facilitate rolling the refuse container to and from a curbside pickup location. At the curbside, the contents are dumped into a refuse vehicle by use of an arm, a hydraulic assist, or by manually inverting the container into the collection vehicle. A typical example of such a refuse container is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,158.

Whereas refuse containers having wheels are relative large, for example provided in nominal sizes of 35, 65 and 95 gallons, recycle containers for containing recyclable products are generally smaller and may or may not be provided with wheels. In a typical example of the use of such containers, the refuse container is moved separately from the recycle container to the curbside location from which each will be emptied by a refuse vehicle. Accordingly, one trip for

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is object of the present invention to provide a recycle container that is readily adapted for use with standard refuse containers having wheels and a lift bar or lock bar. Such a lift bar is provided on most standard refuse containers permitting emptying of the container by using a hydraulic lift unit that is part of a refuse collection vehicle. Standard refuse containers provide the lift bar at a standard height that does not vary for various sizes of the refuse container or among refuse containers manufactured by different manufacturers so the refuse containers can be emptied into the refuse collection vehicle by a standard hydraulic lift unit.

The recycle container of the invention has an engagement flange for engaging, partly encircling, or hooking onto the lift bar of the refuse container. When engaged with the lift bar, the recycle container can be transported together with the refuse container, i.e. by walking the refuse container and attached recycle container together to the curbside collection point. In particular, the engagement flange of the recycle container is placed over the lift bar of the refuse container, which is then tilted back or rotated backward about its wheels in the usual manner of moving the refuse container.

These and other objects of the invention will become clear from the brief description of the drawings and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects, features and advantages of the present invention are more fully understood from the following detailed description of the invention set forth with respect to the brief description of the drawings in which like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several figures.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the recycle container connected to a standard trash can for transportation together to a curbside service location;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the recycle container of the invention shown in FIG. 1 in combination with the standard trash can;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing details of the engagement flange of the recycle container of the invention shown in FIG. 1 engaging the lift bar of a standard trash;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing details of the flange of the recycle container of the invention shown in FIG. 1 engaging the lift bar of a standard trash; and

FIG. 5 is a partial side view of the rear of the recycle container shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of a recycle container 10 constructed according a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the recycle container 10 has a ground engaging surface, such as the bottom wall 3 or a bottom rim, flange or peripheral rib. The recycle container also has side walls 5, 6, a front wall 7 and rear wall 14. Recycle container 10 is used in combination with a standard refuse container 20, an example of which is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,158 which is hereby incorporated by reference. Refuse container 20 has wheels 21 at the rear and along the bottom wall to facilitate movement of the container when tilted back onto the wheels and to permit the container to be stationary when in an upright position. The container 20 also has a handle 22 which facilitates transport of the container and a lid 23.

As shown in FIGS. 2-5, the recycle container 10 has an engagement flange 12 that extends outwardly form the real wall 14, and has a hook portion 15 that engages the lift bar 24 of the refuse container. The flange 12 extends outwardly from the rear wall 14 at a height with respect to the ground engaging surface or bottom wall 3 that enables hook portion 15 of the flange to engage the lift bar 24, by partly encircling the lift bar 24 when both the refuse container and the recycle container are supported on level ground. To engage the flange 12 of the recycle container 10 onto the lift bar of the refuse container 20, side hand grips 17 are provided. Also, a front hand grip 19 is provided.

To facilitate movement of the recycle container and refuse container together, the recycle container 10 is hooked onto the lift bar 24 of the refuse container 20, and then the refuse container is tilted backward about the wheels 21, using handle 23, in the typical manner for transporting such refuse containers. As a result of the engagement of the flange 12 with the lift bar 24, the recycle container is stably joined to the reuse container 20, and the two containers can be transported together to the curbside location, detached from each other and separately emptied into refuse and recycling vehicles. Accordingly, the refuse container and recycle container can be transported together to a curbside location after quickly joining the containers together, and also quickly detaching the containers from each other after they have been transported to the pick-up location.

As shown in the perspective view of FIG. 4 and side view of FIG. 5, hook portion 15 extends between side flange sections 12 a on each side of flange 12. Further, support ribs 15 a are provided between flange side ribs 12 a in some embodiments to strengthen the flange and hook portion 15. As shown in FIG. 5, the hook portion 15 has a semicircular shape 15 b, opening downwardly, to engage the cylindrical shaped lift bar 24 of the refuse container, in some embodiments. The hook portion 15 is sufficiently wide to provide lateral stability. For example, the hook portion 15 between flange side ribs 12 a is approximately as wide as a standard lift bar. When the hook portion 15 of the flange 12 engages lift bar 24 of an adjacent refuse container, the recycle container 10 is lifted off the ground as the refuse container is tilted back on wheels 21 in order to move the refuse container. In the tilted-back position, the rear wall 14 of the recycle container 10 engages the front side 26 of the refuse container and rear wall 14 of the recycle container spans the lift bar relief area 28, which is shown in FIG. 1, that is typically provided below the lift bar 24.

A lid 30 is provided with a main portion covering the opening of the refuse container. Lid 30 is provided with a hand grip 32 for lifting the lid. At a rear edge of the lid, adjoining the rear wall 14 of the container 10, a hinge 34 is provided. A part of hinge 34 is formed from structure that is molded along a rear edge of lid 30 and the other part of hinge 34 is formed of structure that is molded along the top edge of the opening of the recycle container adjacent rear wall 14. Snap together hinge parts, for example, may be provided along each edge of the lid and container or a hinge pin may be fit in between the hinge parts molded in each of the container 10 and lid 30, respectively, in a known manner, to form the hinge 34.

The recycle container of FIG. 1 is molded in one piece by injection molding of a plastic material, for example, such that all parts of recycle 10 are of an integral one piece construction. The flange 12 and hook portion 15 are integrally molded together with rear wall 14 in the embodiment shown. The lid 30 of the recycle container is also injection molded of a plastic material, and the hinge 34 has parts from one of the lid and the container 10 or both, and optionally an additional hinge part can be added in assembly of the lid on the container to facilitate the hinged connection of the lid and container. The containers 10 are able to stacked in a nested stack with the lids open or removed.

While preferred embodiments have been set forth with specific details, further embodiments, modifications and variations are contemplated according to the broader aspects of the present invention, all as determined by the spirit and scope of the following claims. 

1. A recycle container adapted for use with a refuse container that has wheels and a lift bar to be engaged by a hydraulic lift unit of a refuse collection vehicle, said recycle container comprising: a bottom surface on supporting the recycle container including a bottom wall; a plurality of walls upstanding from said bottom wall including side walls, a front wall and a rear wall, each of said walls extending upwardly and together forming an opening of said container; said rear wall having a flange extending outwardly from said rear wall and having a hook portion opening downwardly toward said bottom wall, wherein said flange is disposed at a height above said ground engaging surface and said hook portion is disposed outwardly from said rear wall to enable engagement of said hook portion with a lift bar of a refuse container when said recycle container is supported on said ground engaging surface adjacent a refuse container, and wherein engagement of said hook portion of said flange and a lift bar of an adjacent refuse container enables said recycle container to be joined to a refuse container so that a joined refuse container and recycle container are movable together.
 2. A recycle container according to claim 1, further comprising a lid having a main portion extending across the opening of said recycle container and having a first hinge part on a rear portion of the lid; and said rear of said recycle container wall having a second hinge part that engages said first hinge part for hingedly mounting said lid to said container.
 3. A recycle container according to claim 1, wherein said hook portion of said flange has a semicircular shape to engage a cylindrical shaped lift bar of a refuse container.
 4. A recycle container according to claim 1, wherein said flange has first and second side support sections molded integrally with said rear wall and said hook portion extends between said side support sections to extend laterally and support said recycle container when said hook portion of said flange engages a lift bar of an adjacent refuse container. 